Here’s what East Bay native and travel writer, Andy Murdock, had to say about us…

” Let’s be honest: when it comes to bagels, the Bay Area is behind the curve. One trip to New York or Montreal is enough to make you give up on West Coast bagels. But don’t! Or at least, not until you’ve given Beauty’s a fair doughy shake. Montreal-style bagels are finished in a wood-fired oven here, attracting a long line of beards and plaids basically every weekend. Totally worth the wait though: the hot bagels are fantastic, the smoked trout salad is addictive, the fried chicken bagel sandwich with beet slaw should be a controlled substance, and — these are fightin’ words — the rugelach is better than your mom’s.”

MIRANDA LUBY wrote:So this one technically isn’t in San Francisco but if you’re not willing to train it 15 minutes out of the city for a fried chicken bagel then you shouldn’t be reading a “top 10 sandwiches” list. It’s a wood fired bagel, the fried chicken is organic and oh-so-crispy and it’s accompanied by the creamiest beetroot coleslaw you’ve even stained your outfit with. You’ll find this gem of a bagel shop and the rest of their creative delights (think organic honey and almond butter) in Oakland, San Fran’s hip and trendy little sister city laying in the east of the Bay Area. They say Oakland is to San Fran what Brooklyn is to New York so grow a beard and go with an empty stomach.

Beauty’s Montreal-style bagels are a bright spot in an admittedly bleak bagel landscape, and their shop is a nice stop for a delicious, inexpensive breakfast. Go with the egg and cheddar bagel sandwich ($4.50), featuring a folded omelet of tender, freshly cooked eggs laced with molten Clover cheddar cheese, spilling from the bagel’s sides. The eggs are wonderfully buttery, and the bagels themselves are fresh-tasting, nicely chewy, and not too sweet, with burnished crusts and dense coats of toppings.

Egg and cheese is the most meal-like option, but you can find plenty of topping combinations that clock in under $5—hummus plus pickled red onion and avocado would make a fine sandwich, though we’d be hard-pressed to pass up those eggs on a return visit.

The goal of this project is to find an unusual and compelling way to connect you with the Syrian children who need your help. Images of refugees in the media generally don’t help us make the emotional connections to these distant and foreign people that lead to action. We know there is a problem because, despite the media coverage of the Syrian war, humanitarian aid organizations still don’t have the resources they need to help the refugees.

This project seeks to break through the filters of distance and otherness by presenting Syrian children as dignified individuals while sharing their inner turmoil in a way that any parent can immediately understand.

To do this, we visited four Syrian schools (and a tea garden) where we photographed hundreds of portraits of Syrian children. We used a formal portrait style to remove the sense of the difference, to emphasize the shared humanity of the subjects.

We also organized art classes and art therapy sessions, and we photographed the children’s drawings from these events. Children’s drawings have a universal appeal, and even when influenced by place, language, or politics, they retain a raw human essence. They are immediate in the way a photograph is immediate, which is why pairing them is so effective and powerful.

The Syrian war has created the largest refugee crisis in a generation, yet the world has not provided for these people, and many Syrians, mostly children, still need the basics: shelter, education, food, and security.

We hope this project will raise awareness of the Syrian refugee crisis. We hope to bring more art to more children, because we learned from this project that for these kids, who often feel powerless and controlled, self-expression is necessary for mental health. Art becomes a necessity, not a luxury.

Of course, we also hope you will support humanitarian organizations and ask your politicians to help the refugees.

Simply offering your attention is a way to help, too. People in serious trouble, especially war refugees, need to feel that their troubles are worthy the attention of outsiders. An easy way to contribute is to ask a child to draw and send a picture to the project.

However you choose to act, we would like you to be a part of it.

We are featuring artwork by a local artists and we’ll continue to do so on a regular basis. Come check out their work and grab a bite to eat while you’re at it.

Beauty’s Bagel Shop is pleased to feature the artwork of Craig Baxter. This is the fifth time we are featuring artwork by a local artist and we’ll continue to do so on a regular basis. Come check out his work and grab a bite to eat while you’re at it.

There are a few ways to go about placing your order:
- e-mail info@beautysbagelshop.com
- call the shop (510-788-6098) and speak to a lovely staff member (preferably in the afternoon)
– stop by the shop and fill out a catering form